Snapshots of Nine & Rose
by Pir8grl
Summary: A collection of Nine/Rose ficlets.
1. Chapter 1

The sound of soft footfalls roused the Doctor from his morose contemplation of the day's disastrous events. Rose Tyler shuffled her way into the library, wearing a ridiculously oversized plaid flannel shirt over a vest and shorts, and absurd pink bunny slippers on her feet. Her hair was loose and tousled, and she clutched a mug in her hands. As always, the sight of her brought an indulgent smile to the Doctor's lips.

"Thought you'd be asleep," he said, by way of greeting.

"Could say the same about you," she countered, curling up beside him on the divan. "What you got there?" she asked, peering at the tumbler of amber liquid he held.

"Brandy," he said, offering her the glass.

Rose took a sip, and scrunched up her face adorably. "Blimey. You're drinkin' that for entertainment?"

She took a swallow of her chocolate to chase the taste away. There was a smudge of whipped cream on the corner of her mouth, and the Doctor wiped it away with an affectionate swipe of his thumb.

"Purely medicinal."

"Are you hurt?" she asked, looking up at him in concern.

"I'm fine. Superior biology, an' all."

"Memories can hurt, too," Rose offered.

"Not much to be done about that."

"You could talk about it."

"No. I can't."

"Might help."

The Doctor shook his head sharply. "It's too big, and bloody, and filthy. Don't you see, Rose? Whenever I think of home, that's all I can see - everything burning."

Rose drained her hot chocolate, and set her mug aside. She curled herself into the Doctor's side. He responded by slipping his arm around her shoulders.

"Wish I could help."

"You are," he assured her, breathing in the sweet warmth of her presence.

"Couldn't you tell me something about your home, something from before the war and the Daleks? Somethin' that doesn't hurt."

He never could refuse her anything when she looked up at him like that, and so he sucked in a deep lungful of air, and began to speak. He told her about a shining city, set under a magnificent glass dome, and a man clever enough to figure out a way to defeat death itself - and wise enough to know that no one else should ever follow that path. He spoke of fields of red grass, and trees with silver leaves, and each word was like poison being sucked from a wound.

At one point, he paused to take a sip of his brandy, and noticed that the toll of the day's events had finally lulled Rose to sleep. He didn't take offense. Utah had been a nasty piece of business, and she was surely beyond exhausted. Besides, the catalogue of pleasant memories had really been for his benefit, not hers. His clever girl. He settled Rose a little more comfortably against his chest, and stared into the fire once more, this time with a faint smile curving his lips. 


	2. Jail Cell, 2 AM

"And that goes triple for your mum!" Rose Tyler shouted as the cell door clanged shut.

Bunch of wankers. They'd be falling all over themselves to apologize, once the Doctor finished explaining that he and Rose (and the TARDIS, of course) had saved them from a poisoned water supply. Probably throw them a parade. She hoped it wouldn't take him too long to explain. She turned to survey this evening's accommodations.

"Doctor!" Rose cried, falling to her knees beside the still figure on the floor.

She reached out to touch his face, and was shocked to feel it cool beneath her fingers. Frantic, she shook him slightly, with no response. Rose slithered down to lay beside him on the rough concrete floor and laid her head on his chest. There. She could just feel a dim heartbeat. Then she frowned, thinking the sound was oddly…doubled…somehow.

"Doctor? Please, wake up," she begged.

He was unresponsive, and his cool hand remained limp, instead of curling around hers. She chafed his hands, thinking that warmth could only help. He appeared unharmed, but why wouldn't he wake? Determined to impart some warmth to his still form, Rose curled around the Doctor, slipping her arms around his waist under his leather jacket.

The lights went out abruptly, plunging the cell block into darkness.

* * *

The Doctor woke with a sharp inhalation. The first thing his impressive brain catalogued was hard concrete beneath his spine. The second was something soft and fragrant tickling his chin. Hair. Blonde hair. He gently brushed a few locks aside to reveal Rose's face, with mascara smudges under her eyes. He scowled. She'd been crying. He wondered why, then discarded that line of thought in favor of shifting them both to a somewhat more comfortable position.

He tried not to disturb her, but it was difficult, seeing how tightly she'd wrapped herself around him. Rose frowned as the Doctor sat them both up, and leaned back against the wall.

"Hush, now," he murmured, but her eyes fluttered open anyway.

"Doctor!" she exclaimed, with a glorious smile, as she focused on his face.

"That's me," he confirmed, smoothing her hair back from her face. "What happened?"

"Dunno," Rose replied. 'They chucked me in here, and you were laid out on the floor. I couldn't wake you, and you were so cold. I just…the only thing I could think of was to try an' get you warm."

"Clever girl," he said, and Rose knew he was smiling, even though it was too dim for her eyes to see.

"It was my own fault, I think," he continued.

"How's it your fault that these aliens are a bunch of ungrateful sods?" Rose demanded.

The Doctor chuckled heartily at that. "I'd gone too long without sleep, so their tazer dropped me like a rock. No time to explain what it was we doing in their water treatment plant."

"Why hadn't you been sleepin'?"

"Don't need as much sleep as you," he said, trying to pass it off lightly, but Rose had other ideas.

"Obviously you need some."

"Obviously." How to explain that when he closed his eyes, all he could see was his world burning? He'd have to concoct something in the medbay to get himself back on a regular sleep cycle. He couldn't afford to be selfish anymore , not with Rose to look after. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "You must have been so frightened, thinkin' I'd left you all alone in a strange place."

Rose's small hand curled around a fistful of his jumper. "I didn't even think about that," she admitted. "It was just…you. I was so scared of losing you."

The Doctor looked at her with wonder softening his keen blue eyes. "Rose Tyler -"

The cell block was suddenly flooded with light, and a delegation of extremely nervous looking aliens stood wringing their hands in the doorway.


	3. Chapter 3

The scene replayed itself over and over in the Doctor's mind - Rose reaching out to the small, obviously sick little child - the shouts, and gunfire - the child's shriek of pain, and Rose's answering cry of anguish - the stink of burning bodies. Their arrest. All of it ending here, in a sterile quarantine room.

He hated the place. The walls were blank and white. They'd been subjected to all manner of decontamination proceedings and biological sampling. Even their clothing had been sent for sterilization, leaving them dressed in shapeless white jimjams. Too much white. Something about it sent a jangle of discord through his time sense.

Rose stirred, lifting her head from his lap. "'M sorry," she murmured.

"Nothing to be sorry for," he replied gruffly, stroking his hand through her hair with a gentleness that belied his tone.

"My fault," she insisted.

"No," he stated, more firmly. "You saw someone in pain, and you reached out to help. It's who you are. Don't ever apologize for that."

"D'you think we're all right?" she asked in a small voice. "She never touched me."

The Doctor sighed heavily. "We're neither of us showing any symptoms. If they'd just let us go, I could scan us both in the TARDIS, and be certain. Could probably help them, too."

"How could they just shoot a little kid like that?" Rose asked, tears trickling down her face to soak into the leg of his pajama bottoms.

"It's a terrible disease, Rose. They've watched it wreak havoc on their civilization for far too long. There's no cure, so they do the only thing they can - try to contain it." He didn't add that if he'd had the faintest idea of what was going on here, he'd never have brought her within light-years of the place.

"'M afraid."

His arms tightened around her. "Don't be. I won't let anything happen to you."

"But what if…what if you get sick? I'd be all alone, out here. I don't want to die on my own, so far from home."

"Rose, I promise you. I won't ever leave you."

"You can't promise that," she objected.

"I can, actually. Genius, me."

She smiled a little at that.

"Rest now. They'll let us out as soon as our tests come back negative."

"Promise?"

"I do. Nothing, and no one, will ever take you from me." He smiled as Rose cuddled into his arms, trusting him to make it right - to _**always**_ make it right, but something about those white walls sent another shiver of foreboding though him.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Thank you (as always!) to the lovely tenroseforeverandever!**_

* * *

"You know Doc," Jack Harkness drawled, "it's great that you took care of the drought they've been having here, but do you think maybe you went a bit overboard?"

"Shut it," the Doctor replied tersely, as he studied the raging torrent blocking their path back to the TARDIS. He'd done the right thing. He knew that. The people who lived here, and the crops they depended on, required water to survive. A bit of sonic jiggery pokery to excite the vapor particles in the atmosphere had resulted in a temporary deluge. The ecosystem would even itself out in a few days, and the flash floods would subside, but right now, the dusty stream bed they'd crossed just the day before was running bank-high and fast.

The Doctor watched as Jack struggled across. The former Time Agent staggered up the bank, then turned back and shook his head sharply. The Doctor nodded in response. Rose would never be able to cross that on her own.

He turned to find his somewhat bedraggled companion eyeing the swirling water warily.

"Doctor…I'm not sure if I-"

"You'll be fine, Rose," the Doctor replied encouragingly.

"The water was up over Jack's knees, an' he's taller than me."

"I know. I'll get you across safely, I promise. Come'ere." He scooped her up into his arms.

Rose squeaked in surprise, then wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Trust me?"

"Always," Rose assured him.

He pressed his lips briefly to her forehead. "Hold tight," the Doctor instructed. He felt Rose nod against his chest, then sucked in a deep breath and stepped carefully into the water. He tried to reach out with his mind to find safe footing, but he staggered at the shock of the brutally cold water and struggled to keep his balance.

The frigid water wasn't the only distraction. When he'd reached out this way on Platform One, to judge the speed of the fan blades he had to pass through, there'd been only Jabe in the vicinity. He'd only just met her, and had no deep connection to her. Now, however, he had Rose in his arms. Rose had long since wormed her way into his hearts. He'd do anything to keep his precious girl safe, but just now, her proximity and the flurry of her emotions was hindering that very objective.

The Doctor was keenly aware that Rose was cold and exhausted, and terribly afraid for both of them. But there was something else niggling at the edge of his consciousness. Was that…pleasure? No. Surely not. But there it was again. He smiled grimly as he struggled to keep them both upright. On some level, Rose was happy to be cradled in his arms. Well. Maybe they might do something about that, once they were back safe in the TARDIS.

"Careful, Doc!" Jack yelled as the Doctor swayed, straining to keep his precious burden clear of the water.

"Oh, thanks, Jack," the Doctor muttered derisively. "Never would have thought of that." He lurched as his foot sunk into some unseen hole beneath the water.

"Doctor?" Rose murmured against his neck, as he struggled in vain to free his foot.

"It'll be fine, Rose," the Doctor said calmly. "Jack, come here."

The American nodded and gritted his teeth as he waded back into the icy water.

"Take Rose," the Doctor instructed.

"No!" Rose protested, tightening her hold on him. "'M not leaving you. Let me down - I can help!"

"No, Rose. It's too cold. Go with Jack. I can sort this, but I need my hands free, and I need to know that you're safe. All right?"

Rose nodded minutely.

"Good girl." The Doctor's expression was grim as he passed Rose to Jack's waiting arms. "Keep her safe."

"Always," Jack promised.

Rose shifted in Jack's arms, so she could look back over his shoulder. The Doctor tried to smile encouragingly for her. It was a bit easier to think, now that he didn't have Rose's emotions clamoring for his attention. He'd traveled with humans for centuries, but he'd never known anyone who shone quite so brightly as Rose. His battered soul craved her warmth and light, and her unshakeable faith in him.

The Doctor shook his head and cleared his mind, focusing on his foot, trapped in the stream bed. There. He'd stepped in a hole. A rock had shifted with his efforts to free himself. Here's hoping the sonic worked underwater. He sucked in a deep breath and ducked down to reach his foot. The water was shatteringly cold, and it was all he could do to keep his grip on the sonic.

Blimey. It was cold down there! Best get this sorted, quickly. And yet…it was strangely peaceful. He could use a kip… The Doctor's eyes drifted shut. Just a bit of rest. Just for a moment. Rose's face swam in his mind's eye, strangely haloed in golden light. _**Rose.**_ He had to get back to Rose. He clawed his way back to the surface.

The first thing he heard was Rose screaming his name. The first thing he saw was Jack restraining her from going back into the water after him. He staggered up onto solid - if not dry - ground. Strong arms heaved him clear of the water, and a shivering, dripping Rose Tyler wound herself around him.

"You were down there so long, Doctor!" Rose said, clutching her fingers tightly into the soaked leather of his jacket.

"How'd you get loose, Doc?" Jack wondered.

"Don't quite know," the Doctor admitted. "All I knew was, I had to get back to you."

"Was about to come in after you," Rose admitted.

"Yeah…remind me not to get in your way again," Jack quipped, rubbing his arm rather ostentatiously.

"Thank you for looking after her, Jack."

"Any time, Doc. I mean that."

"I know you do," the Doctor said simply.

"I hate to interrupt all this great male bonding, but do you think we can go home now?" Rose asked, looking up through her lashes winsomely.

"Your wish is my command." The Doctor levered himself upright, wincing as his battered foot took his weight.

Rose wormed her way under his arm. "Lean on me."

"Might just do that." He tucked Rose in close against his side, and this time, when her emotions washed over him, it wasn't a distraction…it was a benediction.


End file.
